M. Night Shyamalan's latest horror-thriller, Split, easily topped the chart after trumping the competition with a far-better-than-expected $40.2 million from 3,015 theaters in another victory for Blumhouse Productions and Universal's partnership.

Split, starring James McAvoy as a kidnapper with 24 personalities, was fueled by younger moviegoers (52 percent of ticket buyers were under the age of 25, while 52 percent of ticket buyers were females). The film, which earned strong reviews and a B+ CinemaScore, is rated PG-13.

Shyamalan made Split for less than $10 million and self-financed it in order to retain creative control, similar to 2015's The Visit, likewise from Blumhouse and Universal. "This movie absolutely delivers in terms of his genre," said Universal domestic distribution president Nick Carpou. "What Night does doesn't fit a formula except for his own."

Overseas, Split opened to $5.8 million from its first foreign markets.

Vin Diesel's extreme action pic xXx: The Return of Xander Cage came in at No. 2 in North America with $20 million from 3,600 locations, including Imax runs. It was a different story overseas, where the movie topped the chart with $50.5 million from its first 53 markets. It doesn't land until February in China, where Paramount's Arrival topped the chart in the Middle Kingdom with $7.4 million for a global cume of $170 million.

Paramount and Revolution Studios hope to revive the long-dormant series with Xander Cage. Directed by D.J. Caruso, Xander Cage sees Diesel's character, an extreme athlete turned government operative, come out of self-imposed exile to recover a sinister weapon known as Pandora's Box. The film earned an A- CinemaScore. Paramount put up roughly 50 percent of the $85 million budget, with the rest coming from outside partners, including former investors in Revolution.

The outcome wasn't so bright for the weekend's other new offerings, Michael Keaton's The Founder and Christian dramedy The Resurrection of Gavin Stone.

The Founder, a biopic about McDonald's impresario Ray Kroc, took in $3.8 million from 1,100 theaters. The Weinstein Co., which is distributing the FilmNation movie in the U.S., is hopeful that the pic will nab Oscar nominations on Tuesday following an awards qualifying run in December. The Founder earned generally strong reviews and has an 83 percent Rotten Tomatoes score.

From Walden Media — which also co-produced A Dog's Purpose — WWE Studios' The Resurrection of Gavin Stone bombed with $1.4 million from 1,000 theaters. (The movie is being distributed by BH Tilt, Blumhouse's releasing label.) The faith-based film stars Brett Dalton as a washed-up child star who returns to his hometown, where he pretends to be a Christian in order to land the role of Jesus in a play being produced by a nearby megachurch.

Among holdovers, Fox's Hidden Figures and Lionsgate's La La Land both remained strong. Hidden Figures, which had won the past two weekends, came in No. 3 with $16.2 million from 3,416 theaters for a domestic total of $84 million.

Universal's animated hit Sing followed at No. 4 with with $9 million from 2,494 locations for a domestic total of $239.4 million and a global haul of $428 million.

La La Land danced at No. 5 with $8.4 million from 1,865 cinemas, putting its domestic total at roughly $90 million. Overseas, the awards darling also continues to shine with a foreign gross of $83.7 million and a global cume of $173.7 million. La La Land will expand again Friday following Tuesday's Oscar nominations.

At No. 6, Lucasfilm and Disney's Rogue One: A Star Wars Story added another $7 million for a domestic total of $512.2 million and a global tally of $1.011 billion.

A trio of movies that bombed last weekend failed to make up much ground. Paramount's big-budget CGI/live-action hybrid MonsterTrucks came in No. 7 with $7 million for a domestic total of $22.6 million. (Even before the movie debuted, the studio and parent company Viacom took a $115 million write-down.)

Ben Affleck'sLive by Night,from Warner Bros.,tumbled 65 percent to $1.8 million for a domestic total of just $9.5 million, placing No. 15.

And Martin Scorsese's Silence fell out of the top 20, grossing $1.2 million from an expanded theater count of 1,580 for a domestic cume of $5.2 million for Paramount.

At the specialty box office, A24 and Annapurna Pictures' awards hopeful 20th Century Women made a major push, upping its theater count from 20 locations to more than 600 in advance of the Oscar nominations announcement. The specialty film grossed a muted $1.4 million for an early total of $2.3 million.